Join Friends of Animals, New York State Senator Eric Adams, Council Member Letitia James, and concerned New Yorkers as we join hands around Prospect Park Lake, standing together in our demand for protection for Canada geese and the animal life of New York City. A press conference will precede the rally around the lake. Edita Birnkrant, NY Director for Friends of Animals, will be one of the speakers.

"We are New Yorkers who appreciate and celebrate Canada geese and demand an end to the policies that kill, harass, or chase away animals from our parks," said Birnkrant.

Friends of Animals has held high-profile protests against the tormenting of geese for the past few years. The group rallied at the Bloomberg Mansion after USDA agents' pre-dawn gassing of 368 Canada geese and goslings in Prospect Park. The incident shocked the Brooklyn community and emptied the park of the geese beloved by many.

The group presented Mayor Bloomberg's staff with its Canada Goose Habitat Modification Manual, written by ornithologist Donald S. Heintzelman, containing practical examples of long-term landscaping policies to deter geese from urban and suburban settings where they are perceived as problematic.

All told, Mayor Bloomberg oversaw the gassing of 1,676 geese in city parks throughout the five boroughs last summer. A USDA report revealed that 89% of geese observed at sites throughout New York City and western Nassau have been killed. Geese, of course, rebound. In October 2010 more than 150 geese were back in Prospect Park.

Mayor Bloomberg tries to justify more attacks on geese, claiming they threaten air travel safety. (Smithsonian scientists proved migratory geese were involved in the Hudson River plane crash of 2009-no relation to the targeted resident geese of New York City and western Nassau County parks.) What's the real issue? Goose droppings are a central matter of concern in the USDA's report.

New York City recently spent $27.5 million to restore wetlands. Yet the city spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to target geese. Said Birnkrant, "That answer is simple: Clean up after geese where the droppings are a bother, and let geese be." The current slaughter contract with the USDA runs through 30 June 2011--meaning geese and goslings once again must see agents attack them during their molting phase, when they are flightless and helpless to escape.

Desperate to help, some advocates are supporting invasive and traumatic population-control methods such as addling (destroying eggs by shaking, piercing or coating the eggs with oil); and the use of hazing dogs to chase geese from their nests. The end result would still be parks emptied of geese, observes Friends of Animals' Edita Birnkrant, who states, "Friends of Animals will always oppose these control methods just as we oppose killing."

"When humans attempt to destroy or addle the eggs and disturb nests, geese do everything in their power to defend their eggs and goslings," said Birnkrant. "Not only the mothers defend and protect eggs and babies; geese parents care for babies together for prolonged periods. These displays of emotional intelligence complement the wisdom that enables them to adapt and flourish despite the best efforts of humans to terrorize and slaughter them at every turn."

Join us around the lake for a lively and spirited rally and press conference as we celebrate and urge protection for these wonderful North American birds to Mayor Bloomberg, the media and the rest of the world.

Tell Mayor Bloomberg and city officials: Stop the killing and harassment of Canada Geese.

What You Can Do
Contact Mayor Bloomberg to oppose the slaughter and harassment of geese in New York City.

Â· If you live in New York City, you can call the Mayor's office at 311.
Â· Outside of New York City, call 212-NEW-YORK.
Â· Fax a message: 212-788-8123.
Â· Send an email to the Mayor.

Contact Edita Birnkrant if you have further questions by Email or 212.247.8120

Comments

Submitted by Paul Sheridan on Fri, 2011-03-25 00:01

Does anyone on this list eat meat? fish? birds? fowl? poultry?
Stop that first, then I will believe the outpouring of your sympathy for the geese...
FoA comments:
Why a preference against saving geese first? There's no rule where one animal is more worth saving than another. Any place is a good starting point for change.
Friends of Animals is a vegan organization. It promotes life over death for all animals.

Hi from Australia keep up the great work guys I think you all are awesome.You go get those F****** and do the same to them. I SALUTE ALL OF YOU AND WISH I COULD BE THERE HELPING YOU OUT GO GEESE YOU ROCK !

@Kat--NYC's geese do have natural predators. Snapping turtles provide the balance that foxes and coyotes cannot, and there are more of them in the Five Boroughs than most people suspect. These turtles easily grow to fifteen pounds; their camouflaged appearance allows them to gulp down goslings on a regular basis. Are there snappers in Prospect Park? Given their remarkable ability to colonize any available environment, as well as the fact that snapping turtles have been seen in nearby wetlands, it certainly seems like a reasonable possibility.

hold up, has anyone studied biology? the whole predator - prey relationship? What prey on Canadian geese? Fox, Coyotes, Wolves. Well we as human have disrupted that balance, if you want to be humane about it, someone ought to start sterilizing the geese so that the population doesn't overrun the food source/habitat (then the geese will be starving, that wouldn't make anyone happy would it?). We hit the same issue with deer in the suburbs, their only predator is humans and cars b/c we've removed the predators. Unless people are willing to allow foxes and coyotes into their neighborhoods it is our problem to regulate the population of the geese in some way. The animals move to the area b/c it's safe from predators and mother nature has trouble overcoming the will of humans. I do agree that cruel treatment of the geese is wrong, but as animal rights activists we need to come up with a solution that will suit everyone rather than just protesting and saying it's wrong (let's fix this rather than rabble-rouse about it).
FoA comments:
Nature balances itself but history shows humans are inept at doing it -- not even able to control their own population let alone the populations of other species. Starvation is in most cases a natural event for humans and other animals. Sterilizing the geese is not the answer.
Humans are concerned about geese and other animals starving in nature, but not against hunting or eating them? Changing to a vegan diet is all the help animals need from humans.

When did we decide we could play G-d? What gives us the right to determine which animals should survive and which we should weed out? Not only are the Geese being slaughtered by humans the Starling is being poisoned on L.I. and Queens not to mention the pigeon being killed by Coopers hawks that have been introduced to urban areas. I have followed those Vans that collect Geese and asked the men doing these heinous jobs and they say that the geese are now a menace to the human population because of their waste production. SO ARE WE! STUPID HUMANITY WILL YOU EVER LEARN, I THINK NOT!

these animals are gifts from GOD to all of us . THE INHUMANE GOVERNMENT KILLING, AS BEING DIRECTED,BY MR BLOOMBERG, IS JUST ANOTHER WAY, TO EXPLOIT THE NATURAL HABITAT, IN THIS USA.I AM VERY SAD THAT TO SEE THE DIRECTION THE POWER IS GOING IN THIS COUNTRY ,,PLEASE STOP THE BRUTAL KILLING MR BLOOMBERG AND YOUR ENTOURAGE OF PUPPETS, MARK ERRICO

Can't believe people are willing to hurt/kill innocent lives just to avoid responisibilities. Plus it was us humans who first invaded their homes in nature and now we're forcing them out of their last home? What logic is this?